Imprisoned Vietnam War protester Howard Mechanic's attorney has filed his legal brief, support letters, and petition signatures with the Office of the Pardon Attorney in Washington, D.C. Mechanic, a 28-year fugitive from a wrongful conviction and excessive sentence who surrendered to federal authorities last February after over two decades of civic activism under the alias of Gary Tredway, is pinning his hopes on the lame duck President for a quick end to his five-year sentence.

On September 6, Mechanic arranged a plea deal with federal prosecutors on a charge of failure to appear to serve his original sentence in 1972. He was sentenced to four months, to be served concurrently, making him eligible for release after January 6 if Clinton grants a pardon.

In a related development, Mechanic's co-defendant Larry Kozak told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and NBC's Dateline that it was in fact he, and not Mechanic, who threw a cherry bomb during the May, 1970 post-Kent State protest at Washington University that led to Mechanic's prosecution. Kozak was tried separately after Mechanic, served only a 90 day sentence, and was then pardoned by President Reagan. The two men were the only people ever prosecuted under a section of the Civil Obedience Act of 1968, Nixon's draconian reaction to that fateful year of domestic instability.

The A&E Network is also interviewing for an American Justice feature on Mechanic's situation, to be broadcast near year's end.

For more information, contact the Howard Mechanic Defense Committee, P.O. Box 27991, Tempe, AZ 85285; info@HowardMechanic.org or visit www.HowardMechanic.org

Letters are still needed in support of Mechanic's bid for commutation of sentence, addressed to the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Pardon Attorney, 500 First St. NW, Washington, DC 20530. Copies or original letters to President Clinton and your Congressional delegation asking for their support of the pardon are also needed. Letters of support to Howard Mechanic may be sent to him at the prison address listed under Inside & Out.